Julie London wasn't really a jazz singer, but she possessed a definite jazz feeling and many of her finest albums (such as
Julie Is Her Name and
Julie...At Home) feature small-group jazz backings.
About the Blues was aimed at the 1950s pop market, but it may just be her best orchestral session. Since downbeat torch songs were
London's specialty, the album features an excellent selection of nocturnal but classy blues songs that play to her subtle strengths instead of against them. Likewise,
Russ Garcia's clever arrangements bleed jazz touches and short solos over the solitary strings and big-band charts. Like
June Christy,
London usually included a couple of new songs in with a selection of standards, and her husband,
Bobby Troup, wrote two excellent numbers for the album. One of them, the emotionally devastating "Meaning of the Blues," is the album's highlight, and was turned into a jazz standard after
Miles Davis recorded it the same year for
Miles Ahead.